Port Hedland Western Australia, is located in the Pilbara Region of Western Australia, approximately 1,660 kilometres from Perth. Known as the "The Friendliest town in the Pilbara" Port Hedland is renowned for its Indigenous culture and history.

Located on the coast, Port Hedland with a population of approximately 15,000,  has lovely warm weather and is a great location for Whale watching, Flatback turtle nesting watching (The turtles can be seen on Cemetery Beach, Cooke Point, Munda Beach and Pretty Pool from October - March), crabbing and fishing. Millstream and Karijini National Parks are within easy driving distance, while Broome and the Kimberley are also within reach.

Port Hedland is also one of the major iron ore ports in Australia which is also a major tourist feature as mine tours are available and the sight of 3 kilometre long iron ore trains are a regular occurrence as they transport their cargo back and forth from Mount Newman to Port Hedland.


Port Hedland boasts a Western Australian Tourism Award winning "Cultural and Heritage Trail" that maps out the early times of European settlement

Some of the main local tourism attractions include Dalgety House, an historic pastoral era dwelling, museum and interpretive centre, Courthouse Arts and Gallery Centre, Mining Museum with historic mining and transport equipment and The Port area.

The Town has a variety of accommodations ranging from backpackers, caravan parks and motels

Port Hedland is generally quite hot in the summer months and doesn't really suffer the very wet due to the monsoon rains further north. The best time to visit is all year round but from May to November the temperatures are pleasant and the rainfall not excessive.

So whether you like it hot or a little cooler the weather is ideal for holidays in our beautiful region most of the year round, so planning a holiday is made so much easier. 

Europeans first explored The Port Hedland coastline in the seventeenth century. Dirk Hartog In 1616 and Gerrit Frederickson De Witt, who ran aground just near Port Hedland in 1628

Captain Peter Hedland of the cutter "Mystery" discovered what appeared to be an inland lake in his mind, in 1863, where he initially named it Mangrove Harbour, but shortly after renamed it to Port Hedland.

Pearling and pastoral industries developed after Port Hedland became a wild frontier settlement in the 1870s. Due to the discovery of iron ore deposits the town started to boom and the nearby town of South Hedland was established to cater for the growing population.

Today Port Hedland is a thriving centre. The giant BHP Billiton has the modern state-of-the-art technology required to operate their facilities and to maintain an ecological balance to the many birds and wildlife that habitat the salt and iron ore stock piles.